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The Beyond Connected Home concept was a venture by Westinghouse and Salton. The idea was that your home entertainmnet equipment and other appliances would be networked for interconnected control, sharing of information, with access to the internet for updated information.

Dick saw some of the products from the Beyond Connected Home line at CES 2004, including the Home Hub and the Smart Coffee Maker. The Home Hub itself included an alarm clock, radio, CD player, and speakers, but was connected to the internet and acted as the centre for sending and receiving information from other networked appliances, via wireless technology, such as the Smart Coffee Maker. So if you set your alarm clock, the time for waking up would be sent to the coffee machine, which would make your morning coffee after your wake-up time, and not before. The Home Hub could retrieve the latest barcode recipes, send the information to another appliance, such as the Microwave Oven and Bread Maker, so you scan the barcodes for a bag of microwave food, or bread mix, and the applicance would automatically cook the food or make the bread for you.

Another product is the ICEBOX, a sort of all-in-one kitchen entertainment machine with internet access, like the Audrey (Episode 120) but with more functions.

The Home Hub is still available at Amazon, but on the Beyond Connected Home website, the Home Hub and the Coffee Maker have disappeared. It's doubtful that the other products are being made.

Rankine Scale

Corbett Hunninger writes in about the temperature scales Leo mentioned in Episode 445. He says Leo failed to refer to Rankine who is to Fahrenheit as Kelvin is to Celsius. So it should be the Cuatro Amigos.